Song Listened To : Don't Let Go - Bryan Adams

*Chapter 159*

"So, we're ruling out any 'juniors', things like that?" Tessa very quietly wondered, her voice seemingly vanished into the warm stillness of Zed's bedroom.

The sun continued to hang completely frozen on the horizon, just above the peak of mountains across the jungle valley. Tessa barely squinted and, with a small ounce of energy she knew she was desperately trying to contain, she snuggled deeper into the white, fluffy downs that encompassed the two. Zed's flawless, comfortable room was dimly lit, and as if the stillness of the pause they were under had no reserves, even the particles of dust in the air, that had been previously stirred, hung in frozen, poised dizziness. Tessa huffed a small sigh and let her eyes lull closed, she sunk deeper into the side of Zed's chest. They lay warmly next to each other, his blankets and sheets cocooned around them, as if to make a warm, messy nest of heaven.

"I don't know if I can do this," Tessa said above a whisper, she furrowed her eyebrows and let her exhausted gaze get caught in a comfortable stare into the star-clad sky outside Zed's massive windows.

"Do we have a choice?" Zed wondered, though he lightly glanced at his ceiling, as if he had to wonder just what she was insinuating said falter. His ears pricked at the sound of their voices, as if they had been drowned in silence for forever.

"The baby DOES need a name," Tessa uttered through a soft giggle. She finally scrunched her shoulders, tucked herself deeper into Zed's embrace, and faced him once and for all.

"Oh, that," Zed eased as he, too, faced Tessa; their legs warmly intertwined, a proper cuddle session cued by deeper wants and intentions.

"What did you think I was talking about?" Tessa quietly wondered, their noses nearly touched.

"... Swapping," Zed just barely breathed, his eyes glossed over her sun-kissed cheeks.

He furrowed his blue brows a little and, as much as he wanted to steal her long, warm kisses, roll her over and prove to her his undying love to her, he remained still, as if to assess the task at hand, and to get a good look at just who would be the mother of his child; he could feel his heart grow delightfully sore, a pang of awe and humility. He was snapped out of his thoughts as a bright, bashful smile sprawled from her cheeks, something of which he was surprised she still had in her. Happiness.

"That too," She hissed as she finally closed her eyes and relaxed.

Zed continued to keep his sharp gaze to her, like admiring a work of art. He caught his breath, like staring headlong into the face of a masterpiece, he was at a total loss for words. His hands tenderly itched to cup her upper arm, though he kept his fingertips and palm as soft as could be. As his touch found its way to underneath her jaw, he glanced at her mouth and smiled at her unaware figure. She fluttered her eyelids, as they remained closed, as if to insinuate she could feel his now closer presence, though was firm in making it clear she could most definitely go for an eternal sleep. She spoke, nonetheless.

"I guess it'll be easier to name the baby once we, well..." Tessa trailed off through, yet another, sigh, and relaxed her body even more so. She could feel her face heat up as Zed's presence grew closer and closer, "...Know the gender. And, maybe after everything is set straight... Back home."

Zed scoffed a breath of a laugh on her lips, as if to wonder if she was going to get the hint and drop their worries for a moment, like she had done prior. He wondered if convincing her to close the lid on her troubles, temporarily, was going to become progressively more hard as time went on, though he still persisted. As if their first, he warmly cupped her jaw in his hand and, with all the sincerity in the world, he pushed a warm, lingering kiss on her lips. With the gentle stir of a return, Tessa inhaled his familiar scent, and released it through a comforted sigh, as if even the littlest amount of his inviting warmth was enough to turn the game off completely, an eternal pause she almost knew too well. Zed just barely pulled away, though his whole heart rattled at the sight of her dewy orbs, in which he was met with. Through a faltered sigh he released onto her blushed cheeks, his thumb idly stroked her lower jaw; he took in her beauty, though in the seconds it took to gain such an awe, he realized he, soon, would have a second pair of innocent, dewy eyes ogling up at him, in pure, unadulterated wonderment. He nearly choked up at the idea.

"Once upon a time," Zed started, though he almost reeled back the words, as if said story, that immediately came to the forefront of his mind, was for his circuits only, and not to be shared. He furrowed his eyebrows, just barely, and as if his mind knew exactly what was happening before his thoughts did, he carried through with his notion and watched Tessa's calm gaze go from mellow relaxed to pricked with girly curiosity. He uttered a shaky sigh, his small tale suddenly expanded to the inner walls of his heart, as if he were merely auditioning to be the Arcade's best father, "Th-there was a player 1."

Tessa just barely cocked an eyebrow, let her eyes barely dart about Zed's close cheeks and nose, and pierce his orbs once more, this time with confused curiosity. She remained still, his intelligent stare looked as if he was focusing back on lifetimes far beyond even his.

"She... She was noble, fierce. She was loved by all the children that graced her cabinet... Not to mention, her whole kingdom. In which, she was trying to save," Zed calmly carried on, his tender voice was quiet, as if he were simply reading to a child; as if he were merely practicing for a time his one's young ears could understand, "She traveled through vast plains, miserable deserts, and dark, molten mountains. She conquered every enemy in her path... All, except one."

Tessa just barely let a small smile peek through her lips as she softly adjusted her position, as if to get even more comfortable, so to enjoy the story further. Zed scoffed a small chuckle, fiddled with Tessa's shirt and subtly eyed the beautiful ring on her left hand.

"A gamer, of which who was confused of his role, would start to follow the heroin around. After the first few times of playing, and noticing he wouldn't harm her, but rather simply follow, she caught him after game-day hours and demanded, 'you must have forgotten your role. You are my enemy. Hasn't my sword made it clear?'," Zed carried on, his smooth voice brought even the smallest words to the highest of peaks, the most vibrant of colors in story telling, "The enemy, though powerful in his own right, lay his weapon down, and with a great laugh, he exclaimed, 'you must have forgotten YOUR role. Every hero and heroin needs a secondary player!'."

Tessa furrowed her brow, as if to nearly politely decline the words of the enemy in Zed's story, though as realization crawled over her, she froze and hung onto Zed's every last word.

"As time went on, as did the levels, she began to notice the children, playing her game, would get frustrated that she would suddenly gain an enemy tag-a-long half way through the game. As much as she wanted to get rid of this confused enemy, she couldn't help but notice he had provided her great company... And many laughs," Zed gave Tessa a kind smile, his gentle fingers began to slowly tuck some of her hair behind her right ear, "As much as our heroin, our great Player 1, loved his company, her kingdom began to worry if his antics would jeopardize their game. Anything extraordinary, in game play, always brings the fear of an unplug."

"Did she finally tell him off?" Tessa's voice finally urged, as quiet as could be, as if Zed's tale was merely a secret.

"Of course, under the pressure of her kingdom, she finally snapped in the middle of gameplay... In the seconds she went against orders, in which a child had over her controls, she turned her back to an oncoming enemy and was killed, on no lives," Zed explained calmly, "Though, before the game could chime a game over, it assigned her enemy friend, the one so desperately following her around, to the infamous... Player 2."

Tessa finally beamed Zed a curious smile.

"'I'm your Player 2!' he explained, like he knew he had purpose, but couldn't ever remember. He knew, somehow, there was a plain reason he was following her around. He knew he had a spot in the game, and though he couldn't remember, or even pinpoint the proper name of it, all it took was a little pressure," Zed smiled as he continued to caress the skin under Tessa's jaw, "All it took was a little patience, a little strife. Without his endurance, they would've never accidentally stumbled across the very thought of a 'Player 2'."

"It was that easy," Tessa heaved gently.

"And that hard," Zed added, his sharp, loving gaze nearly begged her to remain hopeful, "Nothing good ever comes easy, plain and simple... Just... Promise me, something."

Tessa's eyes grew sullen as she finally realized just who this story was aimed at. She breathed a soft sigh, let her gaze sink to Zed's chest, and sludge back to his eager stare.

"Promise me you won't give up on your kingdom," Zed urged above a whisper, "Despite the circumstance... Promise me you won't forget your family."

Tessa urgently peered to him, and as much as she wanted to make it obvious, yet again, of their betrayal, and the fact that she was tossed out in the rain, she breathed a soft, long sigh through her nose to center herself. Through a long blink of calmness that sunk over her, she just barely nodded.

"I promise... I won't forget," Tessa whispered.

Zed gave her a soft, washed look of humility, though he smiled through and through. He finally released pent up air, out of his lungs, and lulled his eyes closed for a moment.

"Promise me you won't forget your Player 2," Zed stated softly, though Tessa gently raised her eyebrows and honed her attention to Zed's strong, though pleading gaze. She nearly frowned, as if to feel apologetic and taken aback all in one emotion.

"I promise," She uttered; she knew keeping burdens on her heart, for the sake of finding her way back home, wasn't something she wanted to do, though she was forever grateful for Zed keeping her grounded in circumstances where he knew all she wanted to do was fly away from her troubles. Through the muddy, messy thoughts she trudged to, she let a bubble of hope and glimmer ease her mind, even for mere moments, "We've got a Player 3 on it's way."

"Our one-up," Zed chuckled, he squeezed his arms around Tessa's waist in a draw of lingering, nervous want, as if to somehow express to her that they should likely get on with business.

"Our gold star, our... Our game cheat," Tessa added with a widening smile as she eased into Zed's hints and slid her arms around his neck.

"Our achievement-get," Zed whispered quietly on her lips, in which hovered before his.

Tessa heaved a quiet giggle, and as much as she wanted to push on Zed's chest and beg for more bought time, she knew prolonging the inevitable was literally useless. She melted into his kiss, his powerful, yet tender embrace. As if the room knew of the impending magic, the foreshadowed death of two souls into either eternity, or into one being, no one could predict exactly what would take place. All Tessa knew, from this standpoint, that everything her mother and father ever taught her, about putting aside selfish needs, for the sake of her kingdom and others, came to peak in this fragile act.

Zed's hands delicately revealed Tessa's skin, a slow peel of her clothes. As if unwrapping a perfectly rare gift, like preserving the wrapping paper, he made sure his every action was as polite as could be. He could feel the heat and tension rise off of both of their bodies, though with that same heat, an unbearable amount of dread gave them a poor aftertaste. He knew their time was up, the amount of waiting and wishing they had done paled against the severity of their final act of unconditional love. Like saying a slow goodbye to a loved one, he took special care in making sure this go-around was as special and as delicate as could be. With bought time, he made the sweetest, slowest love to her; bodies riddled with their disagreeing, silver coding.

As the building seemingly began to lose electricity, over the calm chaos that was taking place, Zed could practically feel his body fall victim to hers, and likewise. With fluffy, white bedding that began to unravel from his mattress, wrinkles pressed into their bodies, the gentle calls of their respective names, he could swear he could begin to feel tears sting his eyes. The very thought of losing Tessa over something so beautiful, so raw, he knew he was faced with the ultimate challenge. Tessa grimaced and, like a predator creeping up to vulnerable, wounded prey, she could sense the impending peak fall over her every pixel. With a knowing look, and a nod of Zed's nervous eyes as assurance, the two crossed boundaries, ones of which couldn't be back-stepped from.

Tessa felt her heart throb in needy confusion as, once again, their baby's heartbeat flared amidst their coded turmoil. As much as she wanted to shove up on Zed's chest, once more, and beg him to stop, she drowned in just what was taking place. She shut her eyes, for merely split seconds, before she begged herself to re-open them and get one last, good look at the light of her life. She gave Zed a nervous, longing look of dire appreciation, as if to spill every single last grateful notion towards him, every last byte of love she could quite possibly overload him with, and just as he gave it back to her, tenfold, she suddenly felt a hard jolt go through her system. As if to receive a brand new body, a brand new set of coding, she inhaled a hard gasp at the shock of it all. Before she could find clarity and relax from the chaos, her heart rate exceeded anything normal and with vision that tunneled to white, she flinched and gratefully accepted her anticipated doom, the game-wide taken down.